If you’re gonna be first, you’re gonna take a risk. All the more so if you’re going to market with a foreign concept.
People are creatures of habit. We look to the world we know to understand new concepts. And if something we’re trying is unlike anything we’ve tried before…that can be a recipe for failure.
Think of it this way: People who are remembered for being ahead of their time aren’t usually remembered for being wildly successful. It’s a contradiction in terms. To illustrate: Imagine trying to explain yoga to a bunch of Cajuns in the 1980s.
Movement
Yoga is so commonplace now, it’s hard to fathom. But that’s pretty much the story of Jerry Smith-Guidry, who was one of the very first people to teach yoga in Lafayette. A self-described “type A” personality, she discovered wellness and yoga in 1989 and fell in love. She went on to create the yoga program at Red Lerille’s Health Club here in Lafayette.
Jerry Smith-Guidry, her studio Acadiana Yoga & Wellness has been in Lafayette since 2009 but Jerry has been teaching Yoga to Acadiens for over 40 years
Today, Jerry runs Acadiana Yoga & Wellness studio, which she founded in 2009. Acadiana Yoga offers a range of wellness services, including yoga classes, massage, reiki, pilates and more. It’s also the only Yoga and Pilates mat certification in Lafayette.
Meat
It’s one thing when you’re introducing something new, and another thing entirely to introduce something misunderstood. Like bologna. Yes, bologna. And if you’re eating a slice of cajun smoked bologna made by Ross Brown, go ahead and get rid of any preconceived notion of how that sausage is made.
This is Bougie Bologna — High grade stuff made from pork shoulder. 100% free of byproducts, mechanically separated meats, and the unmentionables you usually find in bologna with the first name O-S-C-A-R.
The Bougie Man started making his Bougie Bologna for his wife and friends, now it’s turned into a business and a federal wrestling match over the technical definition of “bologna” and whether he can claim on the label that it’s “butthole free”
Ross got into making bologna to convince his wife to like it. He learned the process from YouTube and started selling at a local bar — the Freetown Boom Boom Room in Lafayette. It caught on. And in 2022, Bougie Bologna was born. Ross quit his job offshore and has moved into bologna full time.
Christiaan Mader, Jerry Smith-Guidry, and The Bougie Man with a couple of packs of his Bougie Bologna, Out to Lunch at Tsunami Sushi in Downtown Lafayette
Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. Photos by Astor Morgan.
